The Panasonic brand is about to go corporate. Matsushita Electric Corporation of America, the North American headquarters of Osaka, Japan-based Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., will soon formally take on its best known brand name as its corporate name. As of January 1, the company will be known as Panasonic Corporation of North America. "Panasonic is the name that customers and channel partners have known us by for years," said company chairman Yoshi Yamada. "We want to take advantage of the tremendous brand equity and good will that research tells us is built into the Panasonic name, so it makes great sense to call our company Panasonic."

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., best known for its Panasonic brand products, announced it will introduce "PRO HIGH SPEED Series" 1GB and 512MB (1GB and 512MB SD cards utilize portions of the memory for copy protection and other purposes. Usable capacities are 944MB and 472MB respectively. (MB means 1,048,576 bytes).) SD Memory Cards this Fall that doubled the internal data transfer rates. These two SD Memory Cards use Panasonic's new LSI architecture and proprietary high-speed technology to achieve a data transfer speed of up to 20MB/s(When using these cards with SD-enabled products that comply with the new high-speed interface, a speed performance of up to 20MB/s can be realized.

With the booming of digital photography, music and games, the need for more powerful batteries is also increasing. Panasonic Batteries launches the Digital Xtreme Power battery: a revolutionary type of battery that delivers higher power and lasts longer in high drain digital appliances: up to 2 times longer than traditional alkaline batteries in a digital camera. The new and unique intelligent power supply has especially been developed for high drain digital and other power-demanding electronic appliances. With this ground-breaking battery, Panasonic Batteries responds to the increasing demand for small and lightweight power sources that can combine high power with a longer lifetime.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. today introduced two new D-snap SD video cameras. The SV-AS30 and SV-AS3 can snap still and moving images, play back video and music files, record voice notes and share contents with a wide variety of SD-enabled products, including digital TVs, DVD recorders and printers. The SV-AS30 will be available to the public on October 30 and the SV-AS3 on November 27. The two models function as effective 3.2 megapixel CCD digital cameras, MPEG4 video recorders, AAC/WMA/MP3 music players and voice recorders recording up to 66 hours on a 1GB SD Memory Card. The SV-AS30, super-thin model, incorporates all these features in a compact 53.2 × 103.2 × 9.9 mm (14.0 mm at the lens) casing, the slimmest in the world.

Panasonic introduces a digital cameras to combine 12x optical zoom with an optical image stabilizer. Integrating unrivalled optical and digital technologies with ergonomic design, Panasonic's 3 new 12x zoom Lumix models achieve a level of performance never before seen in digital cameras. New models DMC-FZ3, DMC-FZ15 and DMC-FZ20 feature a versatile, high-performance Leica DC VARIO-ELMARIT lens with powerful 12x zoom (equivalent to a 35-420mm zoom lens on a conventional 35mm film camera) and F2.8 brightness throughout the entire zoom range. With their extraordinary telephoto features and precision image stabilizers, these cameras are engineered to capture every detail of distant or quick-moving subjects with superb brightness and clarity.

Panasonic is introducing the incoming LUMIX model DMC-FZ20, the world-leading 5-Megapixel CCD model with MEGA O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer) incorporating a 12x optical zoom (equivalent to 36mm to 432mm on a 35mm film camera) with full-range F2.8 aperture. The DMC-FZ20 is the true heir to the internationally renowned DMC-FZ10, enhancing its excellence not only with the total number of pixels but also with the technical improvements in the image processing LSI, the accuracy of O.I.S and the flash performance, in addition to a basic overhaul of physical usability to assure a firm grip by redesigning its exterior. The most remarkable advancement is the complete improvement of the image processing LSI.

Panasonic is introducing the incoming LUMIX model DMC-FZ3, 3.1 mega effective pixels CCD model with MEGA O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer), incorporating a 12x optical zoom (equivalent to 35mm to 420mm on a 35mm film camera) with full-range F2.8. The DMC-FZ3 is the heir to the 2.0-megapixel DMC-FZ2, achieving the downsizing in the smooth rounded form. DMC-FZ3 has enhanced its excellence, not only with the total number of pixels but also with the innovative technical improvements in the image processing LSI and in the accuracy of O.I.S. The most remarkable advancement is the complete improvement of the image processing LSI, the brain of a digital camera which handles the image processing.